Set up your soybeans for success

April 5, 2018

If there’s one thing to focus on this spring for your soybean crop, let it be this – get them off to a clean start with early season weed control.

“Getting good crop establishment is part of a strong weed control strategy” says Huston De Brabandere, Nufarm territory manger in Ontario. “When you have a complete and consistent soybean canopy, that becomes your weed control when residual herbicides run out.”

A good spring burndown is the first step to ensure beans emerge in a clean field with little competition for the vital nutrients and sunlight they need to establish a strong stand.

“There is a critical weed-free period for soybeans – just like we’ve known for years in corn,” says De Brabandere. “We can preserve yield potential by keeping our soybean fields clean from emergence through the V2 and V3 period.”

Manage weeds and resistance

Any discussion about weed control has to include a consideration for a sound resistance management strategy. “When you look at chemistries that have been introduced in the soybean market in the past, Nufarm has been bringing new solutions to the market that also address herbicide resistance,” says Lexie Cook, Nufarm territory manager in Manitoba.

An application of BlackHawk (Group 4, 14) with glyphosate in a burndown before soybeans will clean up spring weeds and provide an effective tool for resistance management too. “With BlackHawk, you are getting multiple modes of action, even on weeds like kochia that can be resistant to Group 2, 4 and 9,” says Cook.

Watch how BlackHawk works:

Watch how resistant weeds develop:

Deliver longer-lasting control

For weed control that gives longer-lasting action, Valtera (Group 14) and Fierce (Group 14, 15) can be applied pre-plant or pre-emergent on soybeans and provide six to eight weeks of residual control.

“Valtera prevents your worst yield robbing annual weeds from emerging and limits the competition when the beans are at their most vulnerable.” says De Brabandere.

Watch how Valtera works:

Both Valtera and Fierce can be tank mixed with BlackHawk. “All three of these products are targeting resistant weeds and prolonging the development of resistance because we’re tank mixing to deliver multiple modes of action targeting each single weed,” says Cook. “You can’t get any better than that for keeping your beans clean early on.”

Want to know more? Ask a Nufarmer at 1.800.686.5444, visit Nufarm.ca and follow us @NufarmCA.